Tears and Blood
by JTHMManson4
Summary: [ Working Title ] It all started with a branched off Covenant force from Jul M'Dama's and a Forerunner Artifact.


**Disclaimer: Halo characters sadly don't belong to me.**

 **Vekem/Jisris belong to my friend, Paige, and she has given me permission to write them. :)**

A forerunner artifact.

Their power in the past had been like no other, so it was expected to go well. They didn't know what its potential could be however—better that than it already being known—

It was a way to get ahead of Jul M'dama's forces.

The room was mostly dark, only letting the hum of machines keep the creature company and of lights adorning the machinery too. If one looked closely, mandibles would signify what exact alien species it was.

Before the male, there was a specific map of the planet in which this artifact buried itself into.

He narrowed his eyes—immediately reaching up and tapping the floating screen, letting it abruptly switch to a monitoring system, a system surrounding the planet itself. Movement—

He sat forward within his seat, studying the screen closely.

As soon as he saw it, it was gone.

He cursed underneath his breath, berating himself for being overly cautious. Fingers tapped on the arm of his chair, as he kept his vision transfixed. If he hadn't known any better, he had seen UNSC forces… Must have been a trick of light of sorts. He moved his hand now to tap at the console before him, trying to see different angles for the Covenant equivalent of cameras.

Nothing now.

Human forces….

It'd be an outright problem if they happened to stumble upon his force's doings. Though, he doubted it. He had doublechecked that they were away, tending to either their own thing with their colonies and whatnot, or to Jul M'Dama's forces. Whichever.

It didn't matter.

Just in case however…..

"You..'' He hissed suddenly towards an Engineer, who made a chirp for acknowledgement from its leader. It quickly scooped up its combination of a datapad and voice synthesizer- All in one.

"Yes, Jisris?"

"…Go get Vekem for me. I need to speak to him."

The engineer knew better than to argue with his leader, his master. It slipped immediately out of the room, and only a few minutes passed before a figure appeared within the doorway—

It wasn't one's average Sangheili. The tall alien stood over ten feet high and looked downright murderous with his amount of bulk—he looked like he could take down ten tanks over. The other strange features was his only one eye—

The darkness from the missing one kept whisked away by his armor.

"You called, my leader?" Vekem growled, yet the growl had a respectful tone within it.

A calmed smile fell onto Jisris's face, as he spun his chair around to face his subordinate. "Yes…. See it as another test of your abilities."

A grunt. "Is it going to be battle?"

Jisris only frowned the slightest bit, though his eyes showed appreciation for that want—NEED—for battle. ''…Not necessarily. It's moreso a …precautionary measure."

Vekem narrowed his eye. ''Don't beat around the bush!''

"—There's a potential for UNSC forces to come upon us."

"Then I'll just rip them apart." Came his immediate response.

"Don't be so hasty, Vekem..'' Jisris lectured him slightly, though found amusement within his words.

There was a huff thrown Jisris's way.

"What I speak is true enough… and you know it too.''

"Your point?"

''Always so impatient…'' Yet, his favorite. "I have to remind you…. A certain Spartan is back around."

"Him…." His voice was full of hate.

"Yes, the _Demon_. Apparently made quite a big show at the site of Requiem, making a _magnificent_ return…." Sarcasm.

Silence on the other Sangehili's end.

"He might be there down on the planet at some point."

A downright sadistic grin appeared on Vekem's face, as he absorbed that information. Oh, how he wanted to slaughter that human… "…Is the plan still to kill him?"

"….. We'll see." Displeasure flashed across Vekem's face, but it simply stayed as that. "I may…. Have another use for the Demon."

''—Another plan, leader?"

''You shall see—I'll have to plan that contingency during potential battle."

The ship moved slowly, yet steadily within space.

Readiness-

Grunts were gearing up, even stocking a few suicidal plasma grenades to be thrown. Jackals were checking their shields—Elites were polishing their armor, making sure it was up to date and sturdy.

The Elites…

Speaking of them, one particular one had just stabbed another in the head with his trademark red plasma energy sword. A slick sort of noise went off—as the weapon got tugged out, and then a THUNK as the body fell to the ground.

Blood ran down the side of Vekem's body, but he paid no mind. A growl came out of his mouth. "…Do not speak of Thel Vadam."

It had been a betrayal that all had hurt too much.

The words had been directed towards the now bloody body, but he was sure the message had been received thoroughly within the confinements of the hallway. Spooked, the aliens that were there to witness the violent attack quickly left out of fear. Especially the new ones to this particular force of Covenant.

He grunted, studying it.

A sigh—he must as well go off and tell Jisris, though he wouldn't be happy. That was a hopeful candidate… Though disappointment on his leader's face wasn't something he needed to deal with.

 _Go._

 _No, I won't._

 _GO, RIGHT NOW._

 _…. Go rhymes with no, by the way._

With that, the monster particially shrugged and started to walk off, leaving the mess to be cleaned up by someone else. No doubt, he'd be lectured at later.

After sparing some time cleaning himself up, Vekem seated himself beside of a window—peering out to space itself, letting its colors and such reflect back into the ship. It seemed peaceful—Vekem had always appreciated how beautiful it looked. It was quite the sharp contrast to his violent personality.

And he dare not let anyone know of it— this side of him.

A planet exploding was probably his favorite feature. Sure, the screams, the pure violence in which it could get to state was nice.

But the colors. They would dance all around—as if telling their story. He could just block out the noises around him, and simply watch them.

It was amazing in a sense.

He snapped out of it, as they started to approach the planet—the planet with the prized artifact. A grunt came out of his mangled mouth, as he stood. With his heavy footing, he made his way towards where rest of the Covenent were—ready to do this.

Vekem eyed the others silently—

No one spoke up. It seemed to be norm before missions. He didn't mind.

It would take a little while for all of this to happen, then pure excitement would be upon him. Hopefully. With a low growl, he settled himself in as the ship entered the atmosphere. As soon it was over, he made haste walking over to the hangar bay, and boarding a phantom along with a good chunk of fellow Covenent warriors.

The planet's air seemed a bit smokey, the smoke blowing to and fro.

Coolness.

Vekem felt coolness as the wind hit him on the slightly uncovered parts of his armored body. But that wasn't the only thing that was odd—Despite smoke, the life on the planet seemed to thrive. Plants and trees adorned the area, a variety of color—which honestly seemed kind of nice.

Though the Sangheili simply ignored them—it was no time for such a _weakness_ in front of his fellow comrades.

If he could even call them that.

He was a lone wolf through and through in all honesty.

''Stay close!'' He demanded over the Covenant version of the UNSC COMMs system. Numbers were everything, and especially on an unknown planet. Within that moment, the monster unsheathed his red blade, cutting down some obstructions. To lead the way.

Within a mere couple of minutes, they had come out of the clearing-

Rocky, but doable.

The Forerunner structure hung within the distance—at least a part of it.

"Half of it looks to be above ground.'' Vekem growled into a private channel with Jisris, as the Covenant got closer to it.

"Yes—my records show it was half buried or something of the sort. The entrance is covered up, in order for visitors not able to disturb it."

"…Then why didn't you tell me that!?"

A tch. "I _did._ You just weren't listening, Vekem."

A grunt. ''Like the hell I wasn't." Angry, yet gentle. Only with Vekem was that ever accomplished.

"At least you know why there's miners with you, and did you kill those too?"

"….. So you found the body."

"… _Yes._ I'll discuss about it later with you." His voice was crisp. Yep, definitely irritated… Nothing unpredicted.

"… Fine."

"Report anything else, especially if there's other forces."

"….."

"Vekem?"

".. _Yes._ I heard you."

"Respond next time. As said, keep me updated." Jisris said, before cutting off communication for at least now.

Vekem grunted, kicking at some loose rock, sending it somewhere in front of him. A huff, before continued along, his steps still leading as he was always meant to.

''Don't fall behind!'' He yelled at some grunts that were lingering too far back. As soon as they registered what he said, they fell back into line.

''Best not to piss off Mr. Whiner over there..'' One squeaked at another, and they nodded. Their legs moved, catching themselves back up to the group.

Wonder and astonishment flashed through Vekem's eyes as the group got even closer-

Now only if they could examine it, to see what sort of hidden treasures it held.

Time to get to mining their way in.

Unknown to them, a certain UNSC vehicle touched down onto the surface, a long ways away, possibly a couple of miles away.

What came out?

A Spartan pair of feet.

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